Determination of optimum crop mix for crop cultivation in Kerala homesteads

Homestead farming has been the backbone agricultural economy of Kerala but the productivity of the homesteads in Kerala has yet to reach an acceptable level. In this paper the possibility of increasing the contribution of this sector through proper crop planning is sought. The optimum model was developed by using linear programming (LP) technique. The constraints included in the analysis were total area, intercropped area, investment amount and population of each enterprise. The optimum model reveal the scope of 22.83 per cent enhancement in net return as compared to net return from the existing plan. Sensitivity analysis of the optimum model revealed that further enhancement of net return in The agro-ecological region could be achieved by increasing the cropping intensity in the underutilized intercropped area and changing the binding enterprises.